Oct. 19, 1876] 



NA TURE 



545 



her usual haunt. One of her progeny some years after showed 

 a similar liking for solitude ; he was placed among several other 

 horses (many of them he had known for years) on a small run inter- 

 sected with bushy gullies, more or less rocky. He was soon mis- 

 sing, and search was made for him for some time without success ; 

 he was supposed to have come to grief in the bush ; at length he 

 was found, most unexpectedly, on a small patch of pasture 

 between two rocky gullies thickly bushed ; this spot was so diffi- 

 cult of access that a slight track had to be cut to get the horse 

 back. Having been brought from a large station where he was 

 bred and reared, he no longer enjoyed a great range by which 

 he could place any long distance between his companions and 

 himself ; he displayed much tact and judgment m the way he 

 secured the indulgence of hereditary habit, by discovering and 

 reaching with difficulty an almost inaccessible solitude. One of 

 the best and fleetest stock mares for the fast and hard work of 

 " cutting out " ' was a beautiful creature notorious as an incor- 

 rigible kicker ; she has most faithfully transmitted this vice to her 

 offspring. 



Peculiarity in the fomiation of the hoof has been banded down 

 to descent after descent by a grand old mare who had this 

 blemish as a slight counterpoise perhaps to her many virtues. 



A particrdar strain of Dorking fowls, which I have had for 

 thirty years or so, always shows a restless desire for rambling, and 

 that too under the difficulty of meeting with much persecution 

 when straying beyond their ample range. This special family 

 always exhibits what may be termed the gift of locality. 



Ohinitahi, N.Z. Thomas H. Potts 



Moon-Stroke 



There is a popular belief that it is dangerous to'sleep in full 

 moonshine, as it is supposed to produce some injurious effect 

 called moon-stroke. I have little doubt that the popular belief 

 is well founded as far as the injury to some of those who have 

 slept out at night is concerned, especially in full moonshme ; 

 nevertheless the injury is not, I think, due to the moon, but to 

 another cause, which I shall here attempt to explain. It has 

 often been observed that when the moon is full, or near its full 

 time, there are rarely any clouds about, and if there be clouds 

 before the full moon rises they are soon dissipated, and therefore 

 a perfectly clear sky, with a bright full moon, is frequently 

 observed. 



A clear sky admits of rapid radiation of heat from the sur- 

 face of the earth, and any person exposed to such radiation is 

 sure to be chilled by rapid loss of heat. There is reason to 

 believe that, under the circumstances, paralysis of one side of 

 the face is sometimes likely to occur from chill, as one side of 

 the face is more likely to be exposed to rapid radiation, and 

 consequent loss of its heat. This chill is more likely to occur 

 when the sky is perfectly clear. 



I have often slept in the open in India on a clear summer 

 night, when there was no moon, and although the first part of the 

 night may have been hot, yet, towards 2 or 3 o'clock in the 

 morning, the chill has been so great that I have often been 

 awakened by an ache in my forehead, which I as often have 

 counteracted by wrapping a handkerchief round my head and 

 drawing the blanket over my face. As the chill is likely to 

 be greatest on a very clear night, and the clearest nights are 

 likely to be those on which there is a bright moonshine, it is 

 very possible that neuralgia, paralysis, or other similar injury, 

 caused by sleeping in the open, has been attributed to the moon, 

 when the proximate cause may really have been the chill, and the 

 moon oidy a remote cause acting by dissipating the clouds and 

 haze (if it do so), and leaving a perfectly clear sky for the play 

 of radiation into space. E. Bonavia 



Lucknow, August 26 



The Memoirs of the Geological Survey 



I DESIRE through the medium of your columns to call atten- 

 tion to the fact that most of the admirable memoirs of the 

 Geological Survey appear to be out of print. A week or two 

 ago I ordered a number of these publications and was informed 

 that at least half of them are out of print. Prof. Ramsay's 

 " Geology of North Wales " is in this category and the fact is 

 stated in the printed list, but in a letter recently received from 



' " Cutting out " is drafting a beast out of a mob, fallowing it through all 

 its wild rushes, twistings, and turnings, through perhaps many hundreds of 

 cattle, never leaving it till it is fairly drafted out. This work often taxes the 

 skill and energy of stoclcman and his horse pretty severely. 



the professor he informs me that the work is being rep rinted, 

 and is expected to be published about the middle of next year. 

 Without, in the absence of information, desiring to attach blame 

 to any one, I shall be glad to know the reason why works 

 admittedly of the highest value should have been permitted to 

 fall into such apparent neglect. Wm. Horspall 



Manchester, October 9 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Chacornac's Variable Nebula near f Taurl — 

 On October 19, 1855, Chacornac remarked that a star of 

 the eleventh magnitude, north-preceding f Tauri, was en- 

 veloped in nebulosity, which was sufficiently bright up to 

 the end of January following to occasion surprise that it 

 had not been previously detected. The star had been 

 repeatedly observed in 1854. 



Chacornac gives the position of the star upon which 

 the nebula was projected for i852'o in R.A. 5h. 28m., 

 35*6 N.P.D. 68° 52' 42". The form of the nebula was 

 nearly rectangular, the longest side subtending an arc of 

 3V and the shorter, one of 2^'. The star occurs in the zone 

 observed at Markree, January 16, 1850, without mention 

 of surrounding nebulosity. 



On September 12, 1863, and January 25, 1865, D'Arrest 

 observed the star with the Copenhagen refractor, on the 

 last occasion " coelo valde eximio," without being able to 

 detect any trace of the nebula. He estimated the star 

 ii'i2 m., and noticed another 13 m., about 40" preceding 

 nearly on the parallel. 



From Chacornac's position for 1852, it appears the star 

 precedes C Tauri I2"5s,, and is N. 4' 28". It may be re- 

 commended for examination during the approaching 

 winter, particularly with telescopes of moderate dimen- 

 sions, which in the case of another suspected variable 

 nebula (Schonfeld, 1858) have been shown to possess 

 decided advantage over the larger instruments. 



Olber's Supposed Variable in Virgo. — Mr. Tebbutt 

 of Windsor, N.S.W., communicates the results of some 

 observations of this object and neighbouring stars, made 

 in July and August of the present year. For 18760 he 

 found : — 



c. -Kn ; A R-A. N.P.D. 



Star. Magnitude. j^_ ^^ ^ 



1 ... 7 - n 3 77 •■• lo's s'l 12 



2 ... 9i ... 13 5 17-6 ... 105 51 15 



3 •■■ 8^ ... 13 7 32-4 ■•• 105 53 50 



4 ... 9 ••• 13 9 12-9 ... 105 37 I 



No. 3 is the supposed variable. See this column, 1876, 

 April 13. 



Relative Brightness of Uranus and Jupiter's 

 Satellites. — On the evening of June 5, 1872, M. Pros- 

 per Henry, at the Observatory of Paris, took advantage 

 of the very close approach of Uranus to Jupiter (differ- 

 ence of declination only i'*2 at conjunction) to compare 

 the light [of the sateUites of Jupiter with the former 

 planet. He found the brightness of Uranus was equal 

 to that of the third satellite, which was nearest to Uranus 

 at the moment. If there existed any difference of light 

 between the two others, it was to the advantage of Uranus, 

 but in any case it was very small. The observations were 

 made with the large Foucault telescope. So favourable 

 an opportunity of making these comparisons may not 

 occur again for a very long period. 



Blanpain's Comet, 1819. — A new reduction of the 

 observations of this remarkable comet, taken at Paris, of 

 which we have the particulars in detail, and recalculation 

 of the elements thereupon, appears to lead to a somewhat 

 longer period than was inferred by Encke, from the same 

 observations as at first reduced. This somewhat longer 

 period — a little over five years — would occasion a near 

 approach of the comet to the planet Jupiter at the pre- 

 vious aphelion passage, and it is easy to see that the 

 observations would allow of so close a proximity at this 



